Training Girls to be Agents of Change in Sierra Leone

For the first time Womankind Worldwide has teamed up with Catapult to raise funds for girls working to end discrimination in Sierra Leone. Catapult believes in equality and a world where girls and women are ensured of their basic equal and human rights, beliefs that we at Womankind also strongly hold. Working with Catapult, we have been able to raise vital funds for a truly transformative project and engage new and existing supporters.

One hundred and twenty girls will attend three day workshops to learn about the rights of girls and women, including FGM, teenage pregnancy, sexual harassment and early/forced marriage. These girls will then share their knowledge with up to 16,800 other young people in their communities.In Sierra Leone, violence against girls is widely accepted. Girls are subjected to harmful traditional practices, such as early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). This means many of them are forced to leave their education early. Our partner, Women’s Peace and Justice Project, is working with young people in secondary schools to become agents of change in their communities. They’re working with six schools to educate girls on their rights, engage boys to eliminate violence, and help teachers to protect girls through activities and training sessions. One hundred and twenty girls will attend three day workshops to learn about the rights of girls and women, including FGM, teenage pregnancy, sexual harassment and early/forced marriage. These girls will then share their knowledge with up to 16,800 other young people in their communities.

This project is representative of much of our work empowering women and girls to make changes in their own lives and communities. The link between Catapult’s work and our own was the reason we chose to apply. The partnership also offers supporters a new and exciting way to donate. Not only can they see exactly where their money will go and how it will be spent, but they know that the project is endorsed and supported by Catapult. This allows us to promote something new in our communications and on our own website.

Catapult has proven that it can successfully bring together willing donors and creative projects to deliver change. Working with Catapult has given us an amazing platform to raise funds for this project.Catapult has proven that it can successfully bring together willing donors and creative projects to deliver change. Working with Catapult has given us an amazing platform to raise funds for this project. Catapult’s partnership with Chime for Change, founded by Gucci, and activity on social networks have brought in donations from people who never would have seen our project otherwise.

Womankind saw a huge leap in donations to our project once curator Melinda Gates picked us as one of her featured projects and matched donations with funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This also helped us reach the target in time–the sense of urgency was heightened by the fact that donations would only be received and doubled if we raised the funds before the target date.

With our success of fully funding our current project this month, we are hoping to work with Catapult in the future and fund more projects through the site. We look forward to having a long-lasting relationship with Catapult and to inspiring many more people to donate to empower girls and women around the world.

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